The Long Lost General
by Plopper
Summary: Marlon Dempsey was an ordinary person with a normal life, but he had a great secret. When his best friend and the love of his life, Coraline Sturgis wishes for her 25th birthday to see the Middle Earth, he just couldn't refuse. A/U
1. Chapter 1

"Well that was a good movie", Marlon exclaimed stretching on the couch. "I mean, it had its flaws but in the end it told an inspiring story and.."

His movie companion, his best friend, Coraline had started laughing out loud, like there was no tomorrow. "Wow, Marl, do you listen to yourself? 'It was a good movie, but it had its flaws'. You sound just like the critics from the magazines or newspapers. We've just watched the final movie of the best triology of all-time and you are practically saying that it was decent enough", Coraline continued.

Marlon just watched her, deeply amused. To be honest with himself the movie was actually brilliant, it actually recreated the last war incredibly well. Of course he was not going to tell Coraline that, she didn't need to know who he really was, it was enough for her to know that he was just an orphan from Chicago whose parents died when he was only eleven years old. She didn't need to know that he was practically coming from an alternate universe.

"Well you know me Cora, it's pretty hard to impress me. Do you remember when you made me watch that romantic movie named 'The Notebook'?" When she nodded, again surpressing a smile he continued. "If my memory doesn't trick me, I wasn't impressed with that movie either, still not, but you keep promoting it as the best romantic movie you've ever seen."

"Because it is", she said pouting. "Anyway let's just change the subject. Tell me do you have anything planned for my birthday next week?" she asked deeply staring at him.

"Course I do, but I'm not gonna spoil the surprise to you. You my dear Coraline would have to wait and see", he said faking a smile, knowing that he didn't find yet a suitable present for her. He could just throw her a surprise party that things always worked, but this was his best friend after all, who was going to be 25 after her birthday, and to be honest he actually wants to spend that day alone with her. Maybe he will finnaly be brave enough to tell her how much he likes her. 'Maybe', being the key word here. For him, Coraline was the only person who really cared and spent time with him since he arrived on Earth from the Middle Earth. Many times he was tempted to go back there, because know that Sauron was finnaly defeated peace reigned upon his real home, but there was nothing for him there. Yes he may be a long forgotten general, a respected one, but he didn't want the glory or the responsibility that would come with his return. Here on Earth he had everything he needed, a normal life, with a suitable job and a person who cared for him, for the real him, not only for the great general who stood in front of his army at the Last Battle, helping Aragorn and his friend to defeat the evil. No here, he was an anonymous guy and he had the life that he would have never thought that he'd want.

Marlon could still remember the day when the great wizard, Gandalf told him about the Earth. He spoke about it as a long forgotten universe, that the Middle Earth knew nothing about, but fortunately he knew how to get the general there if he ever wanted to leave the world he grew up in. Surprising both of them, Marlon jumped on this train immediately, telling Gandalf that he just couldn't wait to see the other world. So, that's practically the story of how he arrived on Earth.

"You know after watching this movie, I have a perfect gift in my mind", Coraline said dragging him from his thoughts. "I know it's impossible, but it would be amazing if I could see The Middle Earth and its amazing landscapes", she said, her eyes full of passion. She really wanted to see that world, if only she knew who she was talking to. Marlon smiled lightly, thinking that he could give her that gift, but he wasn't stupid. He hasn't been there for enough years, who knew what might have happened, he wasn't going to risk her safety only for that. After all he never tested the portal the old wizard gave him to come back one day. If Marlon would tell her that he could get them ot there, and than the portal wouldn't work he would just make an ass out of himself, looking incredibly stupid. 'Let her dream, it's better', a voice said inside his head. But still, a question went out of his mouth.

"Do you believe in this story? I mean, do you believe that exists or it existed a land called Middle Earth?" Marlon asked curiously waiting for her answer.

"Well of course I believe, you know how I am Marl, I like to believe in this things. I believe in Harry Potter too", she said sending a wink in his way. "Do you mind if I sleep here tonight? It's already 1 o'clock in the morning and I got ver comfortable on this couch, let's not add that I;m going to be a zombie in the morning and your home is near the place where I work".

"Of course you can stay here, no need to ask" he said, getting a blanket from a cupboard." But I'm gonna disappoint you about the comforting part, If you sleep here, you take my bed, I take the couch. No lady will sleep on that thing in my home, while my bones are still intact," Malcom said and with a quick move he threw her over his shoulders. Coraline gave a surprised cry, but laughed after that. "Lady? We're not in the medieval times anymore, Malcom".

"We might be not", he said placing her on the bed. "But that doesn't mean I am not allowed to be a gentleman".

"Be it your way", she said making herself comfortable in his bed. "Good night Malcom and please don't do anything extravagant for my birthday. If you want to know all I really want is to spend time with you". He was surprised at the news at first, but quickly recovered. "I'll keep that in mind", and with that the former general switched off the light, letting the darkness pierce the room.

A/N: So my first LOTR story is a an alternate universe one. Hooray! Don't forget tell me what you think in a review.


	2. Secrets Big Secrets

'Two thousand dollars, are you mad?" Marlon exclaimed putting the ring back. "How can this small thing cost so much?" He barely earned that much in a month, he couldn't afford to pay 2 thousand bucks for a piece of jewelry. "I'm really sorry sir," the man behind the desk thew an apology just like a robot, probably doing this for many customers every day who just like him, can't afford a damn ring. "Not my fault that you picked one of the most expensive ones that we have. If you look at it, there's a pretty big rock on the ring, a pretty rare diamond. May I recommend you to take a look at these ones?" the clerk said pointing with his hand to another shelf, with uglier rings or necklaces.

Marlon couldn't afford an expensive gem, but he wasn't going to buy a filthy piece, only to have something to give to Coraline. No, this was not only her 25th birthday, but their friendship's 10th anniversary. Pretty ironical that they've met on her special day, but that's fate. He slowly made his way to the car, his head full of thoughts of proper gifts, but none of his ideas seemed suitable enough. The ride to his place was short, so he quickly made his way upstairs to dress for his afternoon meeting at the office. Looking through one of his drawers, he found something that he hadn't touched for a very long time. 8 years to be more precisely. It was the tiny portal that Gandalf gave him, the object that got him on Earth. 'Maybe I could let her take a look at my own world, then quickly come back', he thought, but that idea vanished in a second, just as fast as it appeared. He never knew if the portal would work so many times, it's meaning was to send Marlon to Earth and then back to Middle Earth if he ever wanted to return, it didn't say anything about going to the humans world twice. No, he couldn't run from his problems like this, he had to find a way, he had to find the perfect gift. He left the portal on his table from the living-room and left his apartment in a rush, knowing that he'll be probably late again at work. "A wizard is never late, nor is he early. He arrives precisely when he means too". Marlon could only chuckle at the word that Gandalf told him a long time ago, when he was only a child. Unfortunately he wasn't a wizard, so he was going to be late..

"No mom, I'm not going to be in town for my birthday", Coraline told her mother on the phone. "Why? Uhh, well my boss arranged a business trip for me on that day to Seattle. Yes, yes I know, it's awful that I have to work then, but I can't help it. This is the adult world, as you used to tell me", she quickly lied to her mother and ended the call. Coraline really hated the last three meeting with her, so she was really glad that this time she escaped. The young lady didn't need another scolding about how she didn't brought a boyfriend home since highschool, so in her mom's mind she was going to die single and old, her cats being her only company. Her mom, even pushed her to try dating her best friend, Marlon, but she refused immediately. Not that she didn't find him attractive enough, he was tall with deep brown eyes and a nice sculpted body, his appearance was more than fine in her books. The problem was that he was her best friend, and she has seen in movies or read that usually relationships destroy those bonds, so she wasn't going to risk anything. Besides, Coraline was sure that Marlon would never care for her in that way.

With a sigh she got up from her couch and made her way to the kitchen, to make herself some tea and call Marlon now that she remembered. She wanted to ask him if he wanted to come by her place to see a movie or anything.

"Hey, how are you doing?" he answered. He sounded pretty exhausted, probably running.

"I'm fine, how are you?" she replied

"Well, I am doing my usual evening run through the city and after that I was wondering if you would like to have dinner with me. We can have some Chinese takeout", he asked her. Wow, he could read minds now? Well,she wasn't going to tell him to come to her when she was already invited.

"Yeah sure, I'll be there in an hour. Enough for you to get back and have a shower? You usually stink after your runs", she said her voice clearly a teasing one.

"Well, you know, we normal people sweat after making effort. I bet you do it too", he said laughing, closind the call and running faster back to his apartment.

Punctual as usual, Coraline reached Marlon's place just like she said, in almost one hour. He didn't heard her coming, but he had left his door opened so he was expecting her. His figure could be seen moving in the kitchen, arranging the food on the table, but another thing caught the woman's eye. A tiny shiny object which was glowing in the dark, rested on Marlon's table. A weird attraction was coming from it, practically calling her to touch it. She made a few steps, her fingers inches away from the object.

"Hey, glad that you made it in time, I was just finishing preparing the table", Marlon said appearing in the room. When he observed the objective of her attraction, he gasped. How could he be so stupid to let the portal for everyone to see on the table? Stupid. Stupid.

"What's this?" she asked the obvious question which he knew it was coming. "Oh, that.. umm that is an old thing that I've brought from a merchant a long time ago. Was still in primary school back then, and the old bastard tricked me to pay quite a reach sum for it. Can't remember what it's supposed to do", but he could see that she wasn't entirely listening to him. She saw something in the portal that caught her attention yet again.

"Oh my god Marlon, look at this. That is the city of Rivendell from the Lord of the Rings. Why does this thing show it?" she asked and he could see that her attention now was only on him. "Ahh, I remember now. I've bought it after I've seen the movies the first time when I was a kid. Thought it would be cool to have a thing that shows one of it's landscapes so the merchant took advantage of my weakness," he said now really trying to end this subject. "Umm, Coraline, let's eat, shall we?" He finnaly said, taking the portal from her hands and quickly directing her to the kitchen.

**A/N: Well I've posted another chapter. Pretty quick, I'd say :D. Don't forget, read and review, tell me what do you like and don't like, and I'd see what I can do. Now for my first reviewers:**

Borys68: Thanks for the review. Glad to hear that you have found a bit of yourself in my story. And also thank for telling me that I'm original ;)

Saddles18: Again thanks for the review. As for your hope ,you'd see if Coraline and Aragorn will become a pair in the next 10 chapters


	3. Welcome to Middle Earth

The tension that hang in the air during the dinner, could have been cutted with a knife. Marlon knew that Coraline's thoughts and attention were still directed to the portal, it was obviously that she didn't bought his lie. To be honest with himself, he wouldn't have bought his lie either, but he had to think quick and that was the best he could come out with. Still pretty pathetic,

"I didn't ordered the desert too", he tried to break the silence and when he had seen that it was not working the boy continued. "Umm, we can go and buy something from the shop across the street, if you'd like. Or we can go and buy some popcorn if we are going to watch something", he tried yet again, but the result was the same. Complete silence. Marlon frowned, knowing that he could probably tell her the truth. After all she was his best friend in life, if he couldn't tell her the truth, than who? Still that was his last option. Slowly he got up and took the dishes to wash them up, giving her time to think more. That could be a bad idea after all, because he knew that Coraline had a fast mind and would put the pieces together if given time, but he seriously hoped that this time she was going to remain in the dark.

"Are you ever going to tell me the truth?" she asked startling him. "I'm quite offended that you thought that I'd falll for that stupid lie with the merchant guy", she continued a little smile playing on her lips. "Now please tell me what is for real that object which was glowing on the table."

He screamed loudly inside his head. He knew, he knew that he couldn't lie to her now. Or he could, but she would probably be angry, very angry after that. She wouldn't speak with him for months, and he wouldn't get her forgiveness until he would tell her the truth, something he knew deep inside it was the ring thing to do, but right now Marlon was too big of a coward to tell her. "I've told you, it was a cheap thing that I've brought a long time ago from a merchant. That's the truth", but when he turned back, he saw that Coraline was no longer in the kitchen. Quickly the former Middle-Earth inhabitant ran to the living room only to find his best friend holding the portal in her hand, observing it with curious eyes. _'Great, now I gave her time to think with that stupid object in her hands'_, he thought angry with himself.

"You can lie to me all you want Marl, I know that this object is very special for you. Cheap merchant merchandise don't look so rich and special to the eye. So please, I'm asking you for the last time, if you really are my best friend as you say, tell me the frickin' truth", she said as an ultimatum, her bright eyes looking at him. Well now or never..

"Coraline, please. Put the object down and believe me that I'm telling you the truth. That thing is not special, if it would have been I wouldn't have hidden it in my drawers", he said hoping his words would finnaly convinve her, but he was sure that they wouldn't. The portal was usually pulsating in foreign hands, Gandalf told him once, so she being a stranger for the object, he was sure that Coraline was feeling it's energy vibrating through her body. Then something unexpected happened, that Marlon could only watch with his eyes full of terror. She threw her hand in the portal, and her big eyes told the entire story. She was frightened. "Marlon, you bastard! What's this? What's this fuckin' object? Help me, please!" she was begging now, as the portal dragged her more and more inside of it. She was going to the Middle Earth, her birthday wish becoming true and she didn't even know it. Of course, Marlon didn't thought that way.

"Cora!Cora, stay calm, it'sa portal!" he said. With no time to think of it word, he didn't realized that his words were more scaring than assuring. He was beside her in an instant, trying to get her out, she was already with almost her entire body in the portal, and he knew that it was almost impossible to stop the teleportation now, but still he tried, but he realized in the end that his efforts gad no results, as his best friend was already only with her face outside of it. "Cora, please don't be scared,I'm right behind you", Marlon said, knowing that he was going home after all this time. Now that it was inevitable he was pretty scarerd, but he pushed that thoughts aside, because Cora needed him more right now. "You're going to your dreamland, The Middle earth and I'm going to come with you, alright?" he tried once again to reassure her, but unfortunately her reaction remained a secret, as she was in the portal completely by now, only the hand that Marlon was holding remaining behind.

"Alright, guess the time to return is now", and with that the former general jumped into the portal with no second thoughts. He knew already that Coraline was probably going to be sick after the transportation, after all, even him pucked because of this weird ride.

They both fell down with a a loud bang. _'Stupid concrete floor'_, Marlon muttered, seeing that they have travelled to a room full of total darkness.

"Where are we?" Coraline's weak voice could be heard, a desgusting smell coming from her way. He could only chuckle at this, guess he was right about the pucking part. Observing a lighted torch on a near wall, Marlon took it in an instant, bringing some light into the room, now instantly recognizing the place.

"Those my dear friend are The Mines of Moria. Welcome to the Middle Earth Coraline, and happy birthday in advance", now he could only laugh out loud when he had seen her shocked expression.

**A/N: Well another one, they've finnaly arrived. From now on, the chapters are going to be longer, those ones being just a longer prologue, in my opinion. Anyway, don't forget to read and review, share your thoughts with me ;). **


	4. Meeting the Elves

"Mines of Moria?" she almost screamed, making Marlon laugh louder. If he would have thought that he'd rise such a reaction from her, he would have brought her here a long time ago. "As the Mines of Moria from the Lord of the Rings?" she asked once again, clearly not believing her friend.

"The same", he said, many memories coming back to him. "But you don't have to worry Coraline, the orcs are no longer living here. Not since Sauron was defeated", he said, trying to remember the way out. Many years have passed since he came down here to hunt the remaining orcs with the help of a small army. The first task that Aragon had given to him as the King of Gondor. He really hoped that his friend was still reigning among the men, after all in his opinion, Aragorn was the most deserving person of their race to hold that position. He proved that time after time, and Marlon was pretty sad that he couldn't be here during the first years, but he was here now, because he thought that he'd stay a little before he and Coraline will go back to Earth.

"Are you sure that no orcs are down here?" she once again asked pretty terrified or desgusted as she stepped on the corpse of a fallen dwarf. They still hadn't collected this remains, the former general observed. "Maybe you should take an axe from one of these dead dwarves in case anything gets in our way." With a sigh, Marlon picked up a small sword, knowing better how to use that weapon. "While I can assure you that no danger awaits us in this place, I will hold a sword close to me only for you to feel safe, it's that alright?" he asked and was relieved when she nodded, knowing that this problem was solved. At least she felt quite safe now. "To answer your next question that was going to come a few moments", he started when he saw her mouth opening, but it was closed quickly."We're going to the Forest of Lothlorien. I think you can remember from the movie that the elves are living there", he said, knowing that she was excited, even if not showing, to meet a new race that she have only seen in movies. To be fair, he was quite excited too to see Celeborn and Galadriel, the lords of the forest. He was also excited to see if he still knew the elvish language. A few words and phrases were playing in his mind, but not quite enough to hold a proper conversation.

Marlon and Coraline walked in silence for another few hours, neither of them speaking a word to each other. The former general was quite surprised that she hadn't asked more questions or that she was not that surprised, guess when they were going to be outside in the open, where she will probably feel safer, the lady was going to search him for a lot of answers, answers that he was more than happy to give her now. Until now, Marlon really hadn't realized how much this secret weighted on his shoulders. Now that it was out and there were not so many lies between the two of them, he felt much better. He hoped that she wasn't going to be mad at him for long, because even if she didn't show it, Marlon knew that his best friend must be angry with him for not trusting her with this great secret.

"Oh there's the exit", he happily said glad to get out of the darkness that was everywhere in the mines, "I hope that you've observed that we did avoid the broken bridge that appeared in the movie. I can confirm the fact that the respective scene happened just like in reality,although not everything that happened in the movie happened during the war too. The ending with the master elfs, Gandalf and Frodo leaving was the director's work,it never happened, Gandalf is still very well, he was having a much deserved rest in Rivendell when I left the Middle Earth, just like Frodo in the Shire. As for Celeborn and Lady Galadriel, they are both still rulling among the elves."

The bright stars that were on the sky and the beautiful landscapes, brought back happy memories for Marlon, he really did miss the Middle Earth more than he would admit. "We'd camp here, not safe to travel through the night", he said, throwing the sword on the ground and using the torch the ligh a small fire on the branches that he could have found quickly around. "We don't have a tent or any sleeping bags with us, so we'll have to sleep on the ground tonight, but tomorrow night, if everything will go right, we shall be among the elves in Lothlorien. Now, if you have any questions that need answers,please fire away, now we really do have all the time in the world", he said smirking. Only now he realized how much the big cities of America used to make him uncomfortable. Used to those big and free lands, where he could ride all day long with no one disturbing him, he really couldn't find a way to explain how he did resist so much in that country or in an enormous city as Chicago is.

"Why did you keep this secret hidden from me?" she asked, surprising him with her question. He knew that this was coming, but her first question he really expected to be of a different kind, he expected her to ask him something about the Middle earth or Lothlorien or the elves, but not this. "Didn't you believe that as your best friend I deserve the truth?" she asked once again, tears coming from her eyes. Marlon hated to see Coraline cry, especially if the reason for her unhappiness was him or his actions.

"It's not that you didn't deserve the truth, Cora. The reason why I didn't told you is that I was scared. Yes, I was scared that you would refuse to continue being my friend, if you would have learnt that I was coming from a different realm. Stupid, I know, but that's how I felt. Now I can see that my worries were pathetic but I can't change the past, I hope that you do know that. Now, please let's change this subject and keep it for another time, because I think that you have more important questions that are in desperate need of answers", he was glad that his words reasurred her a bit, he could see it in her eyes.

"Okay, don't think that I forgot this and I'm still angry with you, but I'm going to let this matter slide for the time being. Now, tell all the characters from the movie real, Aragon, Gandalf, Legolas, Gimili, Frodo, everybody?" she asked a weird twinkle playing in her eyes. Now this was a question that he was more than happy to answer.

"Yes, Cora everybody is very real here. Aragorn actually is the King of Gondor, just like you have seen in the third movie. I mean, I hope he still is", he finished with a sad voice. He wasn't home in more than 20 years, how could he possibly know for sure how the things were right now. He definitely couldn't.

She asked him many more questions, at which he happily answered, until a loud growl came from her stomach. They were so heated up in their conversation that he almost forgot the fact that they haven't eaten all day.

"Well, that's a nice sound", he teased. "Would you be okay if I'd leave for a bit too hunt some rabbits for us to eat?" he asked her. "You don't have to worry, those lands are free of evil, the only threat might be the elves but they don't get out of the forest often, and not at night. But still if you have an encounter with them, you should say that you're with Gamp", he instructed her slowly. When she didn't say anything he explained "Gamp it's the name given to me by the Lothlorien elves a long time ago. It means claw. When we have more time I'll explain to you how I acquired this nickname, but now I have some food to get. Stay safe", he said running fast down the hill, where some rabbits holes could be seen. Marlon waited patiently for his ears to perceive a sound, but nothing came only the silence of the night. Sighing, the warrior looked down at the sword. It was still full of dust, but he tested it when he took it from the ground, cutting his finger a little, so the weapon was sharp for sure. Quite a time since he has used it for the last time, and of course it would have been much more comfortable to hunt the animals with a bow, but this was all he had at the moment, so he had to be silent as a mouse when he was going to approach the rabbit, if he would see one of course.

Meanwhile at the small camp, Coraline was looking at the stars, thinking that she had received her gift, but not in the way that she expected. Her best friend was from the Middle Earth, her Earth never being his true home. He had practically lied for her since they've met. She was hurted, really hurted that he never trusted her enough to tell her his greatest secret, but she knew it now, and nothing seemed better. Looking down the hill, he could see quite far away the Lothlorien Forest the place where they are heading to. She was excited to see it, because so far the Mines hhave looked exactly like in the movie, so the lady expected the Elves Home to look the same. Thinking about those things, she hadn't realized that she was falling asleep, until a sharp thing was being pointed at her face. Elves. Her luck to meet them when Marlon wasn't around. And her luck also to see an elf that didn't look friendly at all.

"What are you doing here?"he asked sharply. "Speak!" he commanded. Now she could see that he was't alone, another 5-6 elves pointing their arrows at her, like she was a great danger.

"Umm, I was.. I was just camping for the night here", she speaked, clearly frightened a thing that the elves had clearly seen. "I'm with Gamp, the human he is currently away hunting", she said remembering the instructions that her friend had given to her. But those words only seemed to anger the elves.

"How dare you! How dare you speak that name around here, to use that name! Gamp, the human general had died many years ago, shortly after Sauron was defeated", the elf leader shouted. In the movie those creatures seemed far more relaxed, but this thing didn't apply in the reality she realized.

"No, no, he didn't die. He teleported himself to another realm, to Earth", she explained,but knew that probably this wasn't a good enough explanation for them. She was right.

"Those are invented stories", the elf said. "Gamp used to be my friend, I know that he wouldn't have left Middle Earth alive. And what is this invented realm that you're talking about? Earth? Never heard about it", he spated. "You know what I think? I think that we should take you to The Lady of the Wood", the elf finished, his companions quickly made moves to tie her. Ok, great she was already a prisoner.

"Wait!" she screamed. "Please, you don't understand. At least leave him a sign. Leave him a sign to know where to find me", she begged. The elf leader didn't move.

"Take her!" he once again commanded, but no one had seen the short arrow that had been left on the ground.

A/N: Ooppss, too bad for the poor girl. Will Marlon save her in the next chapter? Read and Review as always, your support means a lot to me


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